Method for the Improvement of Knee Angle Accuracy Based on Kinect and IMU: Preliminary Results

Abstract

One way to identify musculoskeletal disorders in the lower limb is through the functional examination where the ranges of normality of the joints are evaluated. Currently, this test can be performed with technological support, with optical sensors and inertial measurement sensors (IMU) being the most used. Kinect has been widely used for the functional evaluation of the human body, however, there are some limits to the movements made in the depth plane and when there is occlusion of the limbs. Inertial measurement sensors (IMU) allow orientation and acceleration measurements to be obtained with a high sampling rate, with some restrictions associated with drift. This article proposes a methodology that combines the acceleration measures of the IMU and kinect sensors in two planes of movement (Frontal and sagittal). These measurements are filtered in the preprocessing stage according to a Kalman filter and are obtained from a mathematical equation that allows them to be merged. The fusion system data obtains acceptable RMS error values of 5.5 and an average consistency of 92.5% for the sagittal plane with respect to the goniometer technique. The data is shown through an interface that allows the visualization of knee joint kinematic data, as well as tools for the analysis of signals by the health professional. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.